Flying Egret

Shot with a Nikon F3, 600 f/4 with 1.4 teleconverter, handheld. Aperture and shutter speed as needed to stop motion in bright late afternoon light with a large water source providing a good reflecting source for fill light in the feathers that would normally be in deeper shadow. The image is pretty much full frame. Knowing the feeding grounds of the birds helped a lot in being in the right place at the right time...that and a bit of luck.

Now what?

The idea of trying them was so I could see if they were an improvement on what I am currently using as well as gaining an understanding of their characteristics so I can help those who ask or are choosing a film.

Are they an improvement on what I have been using?

Maybe and no, in that order.

First, the Ektachrome 100 VS from The Yellow Peril. A nice film. Faster than Velvia and has nice punchy colors as well. But it isn't "better" enough to put me off shooting Velvia. Most of the newer Ektachromes have a warm bias that goes a bit yellow/brown as I look at them on my light table. Since I shoot a lot in areas where light smog prevails and/or dust seems to get blown into the air I already get too much slight yellow/brown already. This film increases it too much for my personal taste.

That said, if I lived in an area with a lot more overcast I would use it in a heartbeat. In the rain it is very good. In overcast it is very good. But I don't live in an area where it is overcast much of the time. So, I stick with Velvia for its colors. Not exactly accurate, but I am shooting interpretive work, outdoors in available light anyway. I can always push the Velvia to 100 if I want a 100 speed film, it works well. So, even with the new film I will stick with the old one I like and have gotten familiar with. At least until something new comes along and is definately, positively and improvement in MY type of photography.

Then, Provia 100F. Sharp stuff. Very nice, sharper even than Velvia as I look at the images side by side on my light table through both Schneider and Rodenstock loupes. Also, it is not 'purple' as Provia has been(the main reason I don't use the stuff). Yes, I know Provia is magenta, but with a lot of what I shoot that comes out so close to purple that I have quit trying to explain the difference. Whatever the bias, I don't shoot Provia, but the 100F is a different animal.

Provia 100 F looks better to me than Provia II. A lot better on my light table. It is too bad I can't find a good use for it.

I use Astia for my wildlife work. Its color is 'better' for the way I see and what I photograph. It looks clean and the lack of contrast is just what I want to get as much detail from dark to light feathers and fur. Provia F has more contrast and Velvia more again. So I have settled on Astia for my wildlife film. But, I wouldn't shoot scenics with it on a bet, unless they have snow & ice-again higher contrast I want to tone down a bit.

Provia 100 F is excellent. Sharp and good looking. Plus, "it's new". But it is not enough of an improvement for what I shoot that I will find a place in my camera case or vest pockets in the field. Yes, the stuff is excellent, so is the Kodak 100VS. But it solves a problem and need I don't have. I like what I use now and don't need or want a 'new' product that isn't so much better that it is a no brainer to switch-that is what I did when Astia came out. I shot some and took one look head to head with Velvia and it was my wildlife film on the spot.

New may be better in many ways but if I don't really have a use for it, what does it matter?

Though I have been talking of film, camera bodies and lenses fit into the same catagories for me. I look at the ads, articles and testimonials, yet I still shoot F3 Nikons(and one Canon EOS A2). Oddly enough, in my head to head comparisons with the F5 and N90s, I am familiar enough wtih my F3's that my focus rate on birds in flight wasn't improved with the autofocus. Part of that was probably my unfamiliarity with the newer bodies. I do know part of the difference is my penchant for composing and focusing on eyes 'on the fly' as action happens in the viewfinder. It is the same with a cruising Forsters Tern and High School wrestlers as long as they are in the viewfinder. I focus primarily on the eyes and being locked into composition to please a damnable "focus spot" screwed me up completely.

Yes, the F5 is newer and more advanced. No, I haven't yet purchased one. I would like one but I can't see where it will really do much I can't do now, so I will just keep thinking on it. There has to be more of a reason to get it than 'it's new'.

Maybe some of this attitude comes from shooting with 4x5 and 5x7 and has been exacerbated by having taken the Ultra Large/Panoramic workshop this past summer. Sitting in a darkroom while a master develops film by inspection under a green safelight brings home what one really needs to get good results. Talent & repeatable technique. Consistency. The willingness to go out and photograph. Seeing masterpieces coming out of cameras, papers, chemistry and technique that were mature before Edward Weston and Adams were hitting their stride is an education in itself.

Am I against change and improvement?

Not at all. I like it as long as it really is an improvement. Provia F is an improvement, just not for me. It isn't better than what I am using now, for what I shoot & how I shoot. Neither is the Nikon F5. But, given a much bigger bank account I would spring for the newer Schneider lenses for large format in an instant. I would get a new 8x20 Canham to go with it. Just like the Provia F isn't really useful for me at the moment, these bigger cameras and lenses probably aren't useful to you right now. An improved product doesn't do you any good if you don't really need it and all our needs are different.

So, get some Provia F or Ektachrome VS, or even Delta 100 or Scala if you want. Get it and try it. Get an EOS 3 or a new meter if you like. But, if your work doesn't improve as a result, you didn't really need it. Just because it is new, even if it is a measurable improvement on 'the old', if you don't need it then it doesn't matter to you.

Concentrate on your images and your vision. Make the time for photography rather than excuses why you can't shoot. Live with what you have & when a new product comes out, by all means check it out. But don't be fooled into changing unless you can really, honestly see the improvement the 'new' makes in YOUR images. Better pictures, no matter how you define them, should be the tangible result of your investment in 'NEW' products.